Activity-based funding (ABF) represents a significant departure from the global budgeting model currently used to fund most Canadian hospitals. Though new to Canada, ABF has been widely implemented internationally (Street & Duckett 1996). Experiences with ABF for hospitals in Europe (Audit Commission 2005, Eaton 2006), Australia (Duckett 1995) and the United States (DesHarnais et al 1988; Guterman et al 1988; Kahn et al 1999) have been reported in the literature and can offer some potential insight to those Canadian hospital funders looking to implement ABF in their respective jurisdictions. There is a need to contextualize this evidence to the Canadian health care environment.
Several provinces are already experimenting with ABF through smaller projects targeting very specific hospital services. A much larger project is underway in BC where ABF represents a growing portion of day surgery budgets. The BC government sees ABF as acting in conjunction with the existing global budgeting process.
Given the complexity of hospital funding policy, there is a growing need to share emerging evidence and provide commentary regarding research methods and evaluation strategies for ABF.
